Legato

[Richard O'connor]

Ive been doing legato for a while now so i’m not too bad at it (my main source being mark Tremonti). However, going through Syn’s etudes i’ve noticed something. On the way down AND back up, Syn picks each string once. However, what i’ve always done is, on the way down pick the high E string once, and then pull off all the way down without picking until i get to the low E string. On the way back up i DO pick every string once. (I hope this makes sense as its difficult for me to describe).
Since looking at Allan Holdsworth i’ve now come to realise that “true” legato is mostly hammer ons.
So i was just wondering if what i’m doing is wrong? I just found that by doing what i’m doing i seem to get a more fluid sound instead of when i’m pick every string.

 

[Richard O'connor]

Also if you look at the very last legato run on the etudes. Is that not just sweeping? or am i being totally dumb.

 

[Ed Seith]

I got some great tips from Mark too, when he did a pre-show lesson thingie in my area, about 2 years ago. He gave me a LOT to work on, and one of those things was some legato stuff.
As far as going “down,” I think it’s just a matter of habit or preference if you hammer or pick when you switch strings down. Probably “true” legato is just picking the very FIRST note of the run only, but whatever works for you, right? On the up, you pretty much HAVE to start with a picked note, because you lack the momentum on your first finger to just hammer it.
Not sure I would agree that “true legato” is mostly hammer ons – there’s a lot of notes and typically only 3-4 fingers playing them on each string. For almost all hammers, there’s going to be pull-offs somewhere. It may not be EXACTLY the same number, but it can’t be TOO far off, unless I’m misunderstanding your intention.
I looked at the last etude. It is indeed a mix, with some of the patterns being 3-string sweeps, and others being legato with string skipping. Either way, they look like a helluva workout I’m not entirely ready for.

 

[D K]

That last legato etude could indeed be played as a sweep, but in this case Syn doesn’t pick the third string but instead does a hammer-on, and also a hammer-on on the second string when ascending.

 

[Mervin Moras]

It’s a hit and miss. It does look like sweep picking but he’s not picking all the strings, I think he’s just picking the high E and the B string. So I guess it should still be considered legato since it consists of mostly hammer-ons and pull-offs. Though the picking does seem borrowed from sweep picking techniques.